Veni Markovski, veni.com
East or west, Club Cola vs. Coca Cola
8 days before the fall of the wall, I was staying at the Bulgarian Embassy hotel at Checkpoint Charlie in East Berlin. While staying in East Berlin, I was spending my time every day in West Berlin – which was the only Western part of Europe the Bulgarians could visit without a visa.
Late one night, I felt thirsty, and decided to cross one more time (fourth for the day) to buy Coke at the little kiosk across the border. The border police officer asked me quite agitated why I wanted to go to West Berlin for the fourth time that day. I told him I wanted to drink a Cola, to which he answered suspiciously, “But, we also have Cola!”
I responded that I agree with him, but they (East Germany) have Club Cola, while I’d prefer Coca Cola, and secondly, even more importantly, at 11 p.m. the stores in East Berlin were closed. Unhappy, the policeman let me go, and few minutes later I crossed the border back to East Berlin happily carrying my Coca Cola. I often wondered what this police officer was feeling 8 days later, when the wall was taken down. During my visit to West Berlin, the following pictures have been taken.
